Today I am going to teach you how to shuck oysters. It is a lot easier to order them in restaurants but also a lot more expensive. Oysters are one of those foods in restaurants in my opinion that are way overpriced. We only paid like $0.42 per oyster at Groomer’s Seafood (in a restaurant you will pay like at least $1.50 to $2.00 each).

The first thing you need to do is wash off the oyster shells. There was lots of mud on them and you don’t want to get the mud on the part you are gonna eat. You will need an oyster knife, your bowl of oysters and an empty bowl for the discarded shells. If you don’t have an oyster knife, you can use a butter knife but I don’t recommend it.

Once you are ready to shuck you need to find a part of the shell to pry it open. Keep in mind that the oyster is alive and literally holding that shell closed for dear life. If the shell opens without you prying it then DO NOT EAT IT because that means the oyster is dead and will most likely poison you. I got lucky on this one and found a nice crevice for good leverage. Hold the oyster firmly in one hand, knife in the other. I’m holding the oyster with bare hands – I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS IF IT’S YOUR FIRST TIME, the shell ridges are sharp!

Push the knife until the shell starts to come apart. This sounds easy until you’re actually doing it! Some oysters just don’t take kindly to people sticking knives in their shell.

Be brave and put some muscle into it, but be careful – this is where you’ll cut or stab yourself. Once you have the knife in turn the knife on its side to open the shell more. You will need to apply lots of pressure.

Success!

Cut the oyster free from his shell. He’ll be connected by a tough knob on both sides so slide your knife under both to disconnect it from each shell.

Discard the top shell and set the remaining shell on a serving plate.

Some people like to eat them plain but we like to add cocktail sauce, some horseradish and a splash of fresh lemon.